Chemicals in the Garden

Hi, I'm Lori Else, and I love to garden. A few years ago though, I just could not win! I had bugs everywhere, and when I would try to spray to get rid of them, my plants would die from the spray! Soon, my grass and surrounding lawn also started to turn brown. I had no idea what was going on.
One day, I was ranting to my son about my gardening woes. He had just graduated from a university with a degree in environmental science asked if he could come look at my spray. It turns out it contained harmful chemicals that were spreading. It was not only killing the bugs; it was killing the plants and everything else around it.
He helped me find a safer substitute, saved my future gardens, and so I started talking to my son more about environmental topics, which provides the content for this blog.

Don'y Throw That Away Just Yet – Reuse Old Socks And Cardboard Boxes

Posted on:
2 January 2015

There are things that are thrown away every single day that could have easily been used for something else. You can easily turn your trash, such as old socks and cardboard boxes, into a treasure that you and your family can enjoy.

Old Socks

Socks wear out quickly, and you likely purchase them several times a year. Before you throw them out, there are many ways you can reuse them including:

Put the socks on the bottom of table and chair legs to prevent scratching the floor. This also makes it easier to move them.

Use the socks for a stuffing for pillows.

Make sock puppets for your children.

Tie socks together to make a chew toy for your dog.

Use socks as a neck warmer. Take a clean knee high sock and fill it with white rice. Tie off the open end of the sock into a knot, place it in your microwave, and heat it for one to three minutes. Remove the sock, and place it around your neck. When the rice cools down simply reheat it again.

Cut off the toes of the socks, and use them as arm or leg warmers.

Moisten dry hands and feet by spreading petroleum jelly on them, and then put on the clean old socks. Sleep with them on, and you will wake up to soft feet and hands.

These are just some things you can do with your old socks. Try to think up more, and do your part in recycling.

Cardboard Boxes

If you have have some cardboard boxes, you can use them to make fun things for your children, as well as helpful things for you. Some things you can do include:

If you have stairs, cut the cardboard boxes open, tape them together, and then lay them over your stairs to create a slide for your children.

If you have large cardboard boxes, help your children cut out doors and windows, and turn them into a fort or a playhouse. Let them decorate the outside of it with crayons, stickers, and markers.

If you think your car has an oil or other type of leak, use flat pieces of cardboard to check for them. This keeps the mess from getting onto your driveway, and makes it easier for you to know if there is something leaking. Place the piece of cardboard under the area of the car where it is leaking. Let it sit overnight, and then you will see if there is a leak in the morning.

Use cardboard boxes for gardening. If you want to build a new flowerbed, lay large pieces of cardboard on the grass to block out the sun. It kills the grass, and make it much easier for you to remove it. It also kills any weeds, as they need sun to grow. You can also cut pieces of the cardboard to fit around your plants or shrubs for protection in winter.

Recycling is important for the environment, and you likely have many other things you can reuse that you throw away. Talk to places like Quantum Resource Recovery for more recycling ideas.